CHAPTER 31: Worth The Wait
Three long days after Logan's was admitted to hospital after his accident is when he finally wakes up.
Although Mitchum stuck to his word and visited the hospital each day, when Logan finally wakes up, it is just Rory, Elle and Logan's three best friends that are at the hospital.
Finn and Colin who had been in his room at the time, were pushed out and into the waiting room as an onslaught of doctors and nurses hurried into his room, to check Logan...
After one almighty scare, he is fine. And, apart from a dreadful headache and some painkillers that need topping up, Logan is going to be fine.
When the nurses return to the waiting room, announcing that they may see Logan, the other boys outside of Logan's room offer for Rory and Elleigh to go in and see him first.
Then, as the two girls walk into the hospital room that they have been in and out of countless times over the last few days, this time is different. This time, the man that they are visiting is awake for their visit. He's groggy, but still, he's awake.
At the sight of Rory and Elle entering his room, Logan's face lights up and a smile spreads across his face despite the evident grogginess in his eyes and the fact that he winces in pain as he tries to sit up a little and get a better view of them.
"Dad!" Elle exclaims, racing over to Logan's bedside first, as Rory cowardly trails behind her. "I'm so glad that you're okay! You scared me..."
In that moment, the smile on his daughter's face is better than any painkiller.
"Of course I'm okay, sweetheart... You've only just found me. You can't get rid of me that easily. But, I am sorry for giving you a scare."
He lifts his non-fractured hand up to Elle, stroking the side of her face and he tucks a loose golden lock of hair behind her ear, eliciting a smile from his daughter.
"So what have I missed, Nance?"
"Um, I don't know... We've mostly just been waiting at the hospital. Um, you've just missed lots of talking, really. Uncle Colin and Uncle Finn took me out for ice-creams a couple of days ago. It was really good. We have to take you when you get out too!"
"Ice-cream sounds good, Elle..."
Rory can hear the drowsiness in Logan's voice and she can see the way his eyes are fighting to stay open.
"Would you like us to leave you to get some rest now? We'll come back tomorrow."
"Nah, I've spent a good few days asleep and I imagine that I'll have a lot more time to rest up. Stay for a bit longer girls."
Rory gives Logan a wary look while their daughter just nods happily at her father's request. However, the conversation is interrupted once again by three heads that poke through the door and into Logan's room.
"Hey, Little L we're going down to raid the gift shop. Wanna come and see how many flowers and pretty pink balloons we can find for your dad?"
She turns to her parents for an 'okay' or some other look of approval. Then, after a quick nod from Rory, her daughter's face lights up and she races over to Finn, Colin and Robert who leave immediately after a quick goodbye.
As Elle races off and rushes to join her uncles on their shopping spree it means leaving her parent's behind in Logan's hospital room.
After her daughter leaves, Rory stays in place, cowering in corner on the other side of the room from Logan's hospital bed. Although she keeps her glance directly down to the floor, she eventually speaks up.
"I was really worried about you... We all were. I'm so glad you're okay."
"Yeah, well, I had a look ahead and saw that there was nothing much on TV this week, so thought I'd do you all a favour" Logan grins. Even despite his groggy state, he can't hide his smirk.
Rory can't resist exhaling a short-lived chuckle before she quickly becomes serious again, continuing to speak and ignoring Logan's last comment.
"Especially after the way that we left things, Logan, I felt so guilty. If you weren't okay... actually I don't even want to think about that."
Even in his groggy state and even from the other side of the room, Logan can sense Rory's guilt. So, from his bedside, Logan holds an open hand out to Rory as he continues to watch her intently.
She looks over to him and eyes him off cautiously, checking that he is sure of his invitation to hold his hand. His smile just confirms what she needs to know and she takes a few more certain and more confident steps toward his bedside, slowly moving her hand into his.
"Logan? Your accident... What happened?"
"I made the stupidest decision and now I'm paying for it" Logan says, referring to his current state on the hospital bed, delivered with a big sigh before continuing to explain what had led to his car accident and collision with a tree.
"I fell asleep at the wheel. I closed my eyes for what felt like a split second and bang... Next thing I remember is the paramedics getting me out. I shouldn't have been driving... I've barely slept the last few weeks with having to get to New York by the beginning of the business day, having to drive up to four hours a day and then the late-night conference calls..."
There's another sigh, but he continues explaining.
"I knew how tired I was. I was an idiot that thought he was Superman. I'm just glad that I only injured myself."
Logan can't bring himself to look her in the eyes, hanging his head down in shame. However, in that moment Rory is too relieved that she had been wrong about her suspicions to be cross with him for pushing himself when he knew he shouldn't have.
"You should have called for a driver or gotten a room in the city if you were so tired... I could have just as easily picked Elle up for you... But, make sure you've learnt your lesson. Just make sure it doesn't ever happen again, okay?"
With her brief lecture out of the way, Rory exhales a heavy sigh.
"Honestly Logan, I was worried about the fact it was a single-car accident and that it happened the day after our big fight... I was worried that your accident wasn't exactly accidental."
"You think I caused the accident? That I aimed for the tree?"
Rory looks down to the ground, but she can still hear the disbelief in Logan's voice, once again proving how wrong she was. She feels guilty for thinking that of him with no other basis than her wild imagination.
"Oh, Ace. I didn't, don't worry. I'm sorry you had to worry about that..."
The two of them fall to a silence as Logan waits for a reply from Rory that doesn't come. The silence is eventually broken when she changes the course of the discussion not completely, but just a little.
"Your accident did make me realise a few things and a face a few truths, though..."
"Oh yeah?" Logan replies, encouraging her to continue speaking.
Before Rory has a chance to elaborate on her last comment, Logan releases a small, uncomfortable yawn. Wincing in pain due to his broken ribs, Logan promises himself he'll never take such a minor thing as yawning without feeling any pain for granted again.
"Look Logan, we can talk about it tomorrow. You're tired and I can see that you're in pain... Remember, we've already determined that you're not Superman."
"I'm fine... Don't leave me hanging, Ace. I want to hear what you have to say."
She eyes him off, hesitantly. She's not convinced that he's 'fine', but she also knows not to try the Huntzberger stubbornness, the same stubbornness that her daughter has inherited. She won't win; rather, it'll only delay the inevitable.
So, she takes a deep breath and Logan can feel his hand being clutched slightly tighter from within hers.
"I realised that life's too short. When I got the phone call and when I heard that you were hurt, I knew I'd made the wrong decision... I've made a lot of those the last few years."
"Ace...? What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that life's too short. Yes, the risk of failing is still there, but there are risks in everything; using a toaster, crossing the street. But, that shouldn't keep us from living life and getting out of bed in the morning. I shouldn't ignore the way I feel about you because of the risks... So, if you still want to give us a second chance, I do too..."
Considering that the day before his accident, Logan had talked to Rory about his change of mind and the fact that he wanted them to try again, Rory expects some sort of positive reaction now that they finally seem to be on the same page.
Right...?
This is why Rory can't understand how come Logan's expression turns more serious following her last comment.
"Have you changed your mind now?" Rory asks in little more than a whisper. She can feel her confidence rushing away as uncertainty floods in and takes its place.
Rory lets go of his hand and takes a step back in the immediate silence that follows her question. She doesn't wait for him to speak and instead she goes into damage control.
"That's okay. You don't have to say anything. I shouldn't have counted on you not changing your mind. That's alright. Forget that I said anything. I'll just-"
After a few attempts of saying her name that go either ignored or unnoticed by Rory, Logan has to resort to virtually shouting her name to catch her attention and shake her from her mouth that has switched to autopilot.
"Ace. Ace... Rory!"
By the time that she hears her name, Rory is paused and stopped on the spot, looking back over to the man whose hospital bed she has just backed away from. She looks over to him and waits for him to speak, ready to continue backing away, ready to leave his room at the first sign.
"Rory, I want that too... I still really want that too. But I have got one condition to us getting back together..."
The young brunette looks at the father of her child on the hospital bed expectantly, waiting for his condition to come.
"You're scared of us failing? So am I. I'm scared of getting hurt again. First the proposal, then with Elleigh... Honestly, I am terrified of getting hurt by you again."
Rory exhales a guilty sigh at his comment, looking down to the ground for the umpteenth time today.
"So, my one condition, if I'm going to be with you, is that I want it to be for the long run. I don't want to go backwards again... To some people it's just a piece of paper, but I value marriage and it's something important to me. So, look, I'm not expecting to be engaged next week or even next year, but I have to know that that is something that you're open to. Because, when it comes to being with you, I'm all in... My heart is all in. I can't try and pretend to be anything less."
Acknowledging the conditions that Logan has just laid out, Rory nods slowly. At some point in time over the last few minutes, she has not only subconsciously returned to her spot by his bedside but their hands have also returned to one another's.
"I'm open to the idea of marrying you... One day. Honestly, I was open to that idea all those years ago too, but it felt too soon at a time when I thought the world was my oyster; when I thought I had so many open doors and opportunities."
A small expression that somewhat resembles a tired smile ripples across Logan's lips briefly.
"That's all I need to know, that you are open to the idea and that you know that's my intentions for the future."
"Well, I'm okay with that" she says with a smile which is quickly followed by a grin on Logan's face too, even in spite of his pain and drowsiness.
Then, after a few seconds of sappy smiling in the silence, Rory leans down to Logan, first stroking his hair, then being careful for his bruises and stroking down the side of his face lightly and delicately where his chin rests on her palms and she slowly begins to lean down for their lips to meet again after all these years.
"Hold on."
Rory gives him a puzzled look as to why he's stopping her once again, like he had on their movie night after she went to kiss him. After all, since then they have mutually decided to reconcile and get back together, so, Rory can't see what's with the halting this time.
"This feels familiar. Have you changed your mind about us already?"
Logan chuckles at her comment and her insinuation that couldn't be further from the truth.
"Far from it, Ace... However, I don't want to kiss you tonight, I'm sorry."
Rory's face scrunches up a little and she's visibly taken aback by his remark. However, before she can jump to anymore conclusions, Logan quickly expands on his first comment, explaining why.
"I want to be able to remember it, Ace; our second first-kiss. I'm worried that they've got me on so many drugs and painkillers that I won't be able to. Besides, it's been ten years in the making, so what's one more day?"
Despite the fact that she had been setback and perplexed initially, Rory just smiles at the reason why Logan, –ever the romantic- has just stopped their kiss for the second time. So, instead of her initial aim for his lips, Rory moves higher up and presses a kiss to his thick, blonde hair.
After a moment, she goes to pull away, only to find that Logan's hand has been just placed on her shoulders to keep her in place, stopping her from pulling away so easily and fulfilling his purpose to keep them close. There, with just centimetres that are between them and keeping them apart, both Rory and Logan study each other closely and look directly into one another's eyes dreamily.
"Elleigh and the boys could be back any second. I don't think this is quite the way to break the news to them."
Ignoring her comment, Logan doesn't flinch and instead changes the course of their conversation completely.
"You don't know how glad I am to be able to call you my girl again, Ace... I've only waited ten years."
I hope you liked that chapter and the turn of events! I know a lot of you were waiting a long time for that... But, where to from here? Will they be able to sustain their rekindled relationship and make it work this time? Will they tell Elle or hold off? What will their families say?
Also, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I am so thankful for each and every one of you that has remained on this journey with me and this little, dysfunctional family. I hope you continue to enjoy where life (and me!) leads them!
Next chapter: Logan's relationships with both Rory and Elle continue to blossom. Also, Mitchum makes a big gesture... Is it for good or bad?